The Art of the Impromptu.
Communication is a skill and pitching is a specialization of that skill. Those of us who pitch do so frequently in a narrow environment: scheduled in advance. But the most fruitful pitches are often those unplanned. Such as at a party or convention. I’m sure we’ve all daydreamed about running into a major industry player, investor(, or attractive mate) somewhere and tossing a wonderful 5-minute pitch (or sublime small talk). But more often that ball is dropped because you daydreamed instead of planned. And you certainly didn’t practice for that occurrence. I mean, how often do you get the perfect opportunity for anything?
Some are born with a silver tongue, the words float from their mouth fluffy and sweet like cotton candy. Or clean and prim like freshly minted money. Whatever appeals to your ears, these people have the knack to make sure you hear it. The rest of us have to work at such devilry. And even then we’ve not a silver tongue, but one that’s silver-coated. At the end of the day, you work with what you’ve got. But how to improve your communication skills and add to that coat of silver? Practice. (more…)